Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 32 (question and negative forms of boas locative)

We have already looked at the affirmative of boas (SWFM bos) to be. Now let’s compare it with the interrogative. As we have seen previously, where the verbal particle th/yth is used, it stops the sentence from being a question. So, to ask a question we drop the verbal particle. But what happens where there is no th/yth? The question equivalent of ma is üjy (SWFM usi).

N.B. üjy rhymes with English “squidgy”

Thero vy Yth esov vy	I am	Ero vy? Esov vy?	Am I?
Thesta Yth esos ta	You are (familiar)	Esta? Esos ta?	Are you?
Ma va Yma ev	He/it is	Üjy va Usi ev	Is he/it?
Ma hei Yma hi	She/it is	Üjy va Usi ev	Is she/it?
Thero nei Yth eson ni	We are	Ero nei? Eson ni?	Are we?
Thero whei Yth esowgh hwi	You are (formal or plural)	Ero whei? Esowgh hwi?	Are you?
Mons / Mowns or Ma anjei Ymons i	They are	Üjens?or Üjy anjei? Usens i?	Are they?

Here are some examples (turning the statements in Descans 7 into questions). The interrogative form of the verb is shown:

Ero vy obma? Esov vy omma?	Am I here?
Esta obma? Esos ta omma?	Are you here?
Üjy va obma? Usi ev omma?	Is he/it here?
Üjy hei obma? Usi hi omma?	Is she/it here?
Ero nei ena? Eson ni ena?	Are we there?
Ero whei ena? Esowgh hwi ena?	Are you there?
Üjy anjei ena? Üjens ena? Usens i ena?	Are they there?

We can now go a step further and make negative statements, by placing the negative particle nag (SWFM nyns) in front of the question:

Nag ero vy obma. Nyns esov vy omma.	I am not here.
Nag esta obma. Nyns esos ta omma.	You are not here.
Nag üjy va obma. Nyns usi ev omma.	He/it is not here.
Nag üjy hei obma. Nyns usi hi omma.	She/it is not here.
Nag ero nei ena. Nyns eson ni ena.	We are not there.
Nag ero whei ena. Nyns esowgh hwi ena.	You are not there.
Nag üjy anjei ena. Nag üjens ena. Nyns usens i ena.	They are not there.